The squad was announced for the Asia Cup, which will be held in Dubai from 9th September. Captain Suryakumar Yadav and chief selector Ajeet Agarkar announced the squad of 15 players, along with 5 standbys, at the press conference in Mumbai at BCCI headquarters on 19th August.
The head selector, Agarkar, announced Shubman Gill as a vice captain. This is not surprising, as, for the past few days, some sources claimed that he would be the vice captain of the team. Now, it is also a clear picture from BCCI that they are looking at Gill as the future captain of all formats. Captain Suryakumar said Gill was named as vice captain when we started a new cycle of T-20 against Sri Lanka in 2025. After that, he was busy with test cricket and further said, “He is there in the squad, and we are happy to have him.”
On the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal
When the selector asked about Iyer and Jaiswal, he said both did well. On Jaiswal's part, he said Jaiswal did nothing wrong, but with Abhishek, we also have a bowling option. On Iyer's part, he said it's unfortunate that he misses out, but as for whom he can replace further, he said it's neither his fault nor ours. He has to wait for his chance.
On the Opening Pair
When asked about who will be the opening pair for the Asia Cup, Agarkar said about the opening pair that both Sanju and Gill are fabulous batters and very good options for the opening pair, but the captain and coach will be the last to decide who will open along with Abhishek, whether it will be Sanju or Gill in Dubai.
Bumrah will Lead the Pace Attack
Agarkar said we look after him specially because the injury arose to him in the last two or three years, and he is so unique and special, so we want him to be available for big games like the Asia Cup, Champions Trophy, and World Cups. After the break of the England series, he is ready to lead again.
There are only 6 months left before the T-20 World Cup, but Agarkar said this is not the final squad for the T-20 World Cup. Surya said when asked about challenges that we have lovely players with amazing talents who make the job easier. In 2023, the previous edition of the Asia Cup was played in ODI format, and India won so dominantly against Sri Lanka.
India Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jaspreet Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, and Rinku Singh.
5 standby—Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhuruv Jurel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal